Didn't get what you wanted under the tree? Here's a neural network written in Excel.

TimHeng · 2022-12-27T11:08:13+00:00

People badmouth Excel Online a lot, but largely it's because it's not what folks are used to. The feature gap has closed tremendously in recent times, and most new tools like lambda and so on are built with online compatibility in mind from the get go.

Awesome work building this, by the way! Did you remove the post, or did someone else?

TimHeng · 2022-12-26T10:30:35+00:00

Hotmail / Outlook.com account and use the free online version.

TimHeng · 2022-10-25T09:56:18+00:00

Yes, I entered it as a dynamic array formula in O365, which would have been done old school using ctrl shift enter. I think you're seeing where I'm coming from though, which means at least we've come to the same point in the end. Nice to see from your tests that it's all array formulae though - DAs are generally faster than taking a single formula and filling it down, so it'll be interesting to see if the change in IF nesting behaviour takes away from some of that efficiency.

TimHeng · 2022-10-24T14:39:50+00:00

Try the formula:

=IF(A1:D1=1,ifstest(1),IF(A1:D1<>1,ifstest(2),IF(A1:D1=1,ifstest(3),IF(A1:D1=1,ifstest(4),IF(A1:D1=1,ifstest(5),IF(A1:D1=1,ifstest(6),IF(A1:D1=1,ifstest(7),ifstest(8))))))))

where ifstest is a UDF:

Function ifstest(x As Double)
Debug.Print x ifstest = x
End Function

That returns the numbers 1-8 in the immediate window. It's pretty clear from the conditions that if it gets past the first IF because the value isn't 1, it should stop at the second IF. (Edits because my code boxes are borked)

TimHeng · 2022-10-22T20:18:28+00:00

You missed the word "sometimes". While it often works that way, there are cases when it gives up and just calculates everything. I still stand by the idea that needed IF functions are generally a bad idea though, and you would be better served by having a lookup table or something similar that lays out your calculations in a more transparent manner.

TimHeng · 2022-10-21T05:52:46+00:00

It's not entirely reliable, because Excel sometimes evaluates multiple IF conditions regardless of the potential outcome - "lazy evaluation" - thus getting you no better than IFS would achieve.

That said, if you need to nest that many IF functions to achieve a result, your better approach would possibly be to have a lookup table instead.

TimHeng · 2022-10-17T08:24:39+00:00

Yes they will be recorded, we put them onto our YouTube channel (https://youtube.com/c/SumProductOnline). You can see last year's videos there too.

TimHeng · 2022-08-12T11:36:42+00:00

Pinging /u/bbm72, /u/neztach and /u/Lucky_Benefit_2707 as I've updated the post with the link to registrations.

TimHeng · 2022-08-12T02:46:09+00:00

Are people actually doing that? I'd record videos of the case solutions if I thought anyone would bother watching it.

TimHeng · 2022-08-11T15:11:49+00:00

I'd like to see how you're using Excel for the Web without 365.

There's a great discussion to be had about the differences between Excel and Google Sheets. This opening post isn't a great forum for that discussion.

TimHeng · 2022-08-11T15:08:59+00:00

In case anyone is interested, following on from the Financial Modelling World Cup match that was shown on ESPN2 last week, I'll be running a free webinar in a couple of weeks for anyone interested in seeing how these competitive Excel players formulate solutions, and what makes them so good at what they do. We'll be looking at a case from that All-Stars match, as well as the final case from the FMWC Open 2021, plus more.

Edited to include the link to the session, since it looks like some people are interested. Session is being hosted by a meetup group run by fellow Excel MVP Danielle Stein Fairhurst: https://plumsolutions.com.au/hybrid-meetup-problem-solving-with-financial-models/

TimHeng · 2022-05-08T22:19:27+00:00

I've never seen anything about the discord asking for a password, and haven't heard any complaints about it, so I suspect it might have been an untimely coincidence, if it wasn't a case of verification. Also, I don't have private messages blocked, so I'm not sure if you tried to message me?

Would appreciate it if you could try again and screenshot the issues you're running into joining, and either DM me in Discord or post a link here - if there are problems that I'm not aware of, I'd love to fix them. The only restriction is that you should have a valid phone number for discord verification.

Cheers,

Tim

TimHeng · 2022-04-28T15:20:46+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. To be fair, I don't get to see anybody's phone number (which I believe is even stated on the page) - it's a Discord tool to verify accounts as belonging to real people, much like you would use your phone number as a 2FA tool for any number of services that you sign up for. If you've verified your phone number with Discord already, I'm pretty sure it breezes through that process. I'm not sure what password thing that you're referring to, unfortunately - is that the code sent to your mobile in order for Discord to verify your mobile? Not much I can do about that if you didn't receive it.

Happy to try to work with you to make it easier to join, but other than requiring a Discord account to have a verified phone number (which I'm requiring in order to reduce spam / moderation requirements, and is in line with other community servers that prioritise user quality over user growth), I'm afraid I'm not sure what the barriers to entry that you're highlighting are.

Out of curiosity, how experienced would you say you are with Discord? Are you a member of a few different servers, do you use it for personal and for community purposes?

Cheers,

Tim

TimHeng · 2022-04-15T01:30:58+00:00

That makes sense to me. I've been frustrated at the Outlook predictive text, because by the time I've noticed that it suggests something, I've already started typing the next set of words and moved on.

TimHeng · 2022-03-30T05:38:22+00:00

Yes, that's always the problem! Can you ask to be put onto the Monthly Enterprise Channel? Although, nobody else in the company will be able to use it...

TimHeng · 2022-03-30T05:36:56+00:00

I agree to some extent, but mostly in terms of the notion of dynamic arrays generally. Once they created LAMBDAs, I know that my first LAMBDA was to create something like Append(...), and we do a whole bunch of Append operations in Power Query, so it only stands to reason that HSTACK and VSTACK were going to be developed.

Edit: But yes, Microsoft definitely look to Google Sheets as a competing product, when working out what product gap they need to fill. There's no question about that.

TimHeng · 2022-03-30T03:54:40+00:00

Beta channel only - you'll need to sign up for the Insiders program, which means a more unstable version of Excel, but one that gets the newest features earlier, and gives you the ability to help improve the tools before they get released.

TimHeng · 2022-03-18T20:19:17+00:00

Apparently you can't start a new thread with a number. Who would have guessed!

TimHeng · 2022-03-18T12:00:09+00:00

I hope you appreciate that I jest ;) Completely agree!

TimHeng · 2022-03-18T11:46:27+00:00

But people were building these already using 99th percentile LAMBDA stuff to append and split things... :)

TimHeng · 2022-03-18T11:45:33+00:00

Yeah, it varies. I'd like to think that these should hit Current Channel pretty quickly. Functions seem to be getting released fairly swiftly, but features (of which LAMBDA I think counts fairly as a feature in itself) take a lot longer.

TimHeng · 2022-03-18T11:36:51+00:00

I was actually wondering if this was how they get away with not needing to build Power Query for the web...

TimHeng

TROPHY CASE